§ 300.163 Maintenance of State financial support.

Plain English summary

States must maintain their level of financial support for special education and related services at or above the prior fiscal year's level. If a State fails to maintain this support, the Secretary will reduce the State's Part B funding allocation by the same amount of the shortfall. Waivers are available for exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances, but future funding baselines are calculated as if no reduction had occurred.

Key requirements

• A State must not reduce the amount of State financial support for special education and related services for children with disabilities below the amount of that support for the preceding fiscal year.
• The Secretary reduces the allocation of funds under section 611 of the Act for any fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the State fails to comply with the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section by the same amount by which the State fails to meet the requirement.
• The Secretary may waive the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section for a State, for one fiscal year at a time, if the Secretary determines that granting a waiver would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances such as a natural disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial resources of the State.
• The Secretary may waive the requirement if the State meets the standard in § 300.164 for a waiver of the requirement to supplement, and not to supplant, funds received under Part B of the Act.
• If, for any fiscal year, a State fails to meet the requirement of paragraph (a) of this section, including any year for which the State is granted a waiver under paragraph (c) of this section, the financial support required of the State in future years under paragraph (a) of this section shall be the amount that would have been required in the absence of that failure and not the reduced level of the State's support.

Affected parties

• State educational agencies
• U.S. Secretary of Education
• children with disabilities

Official source

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-300/section-300.163